FITCH WINS TENTH STRAIGHT OVER SPARTANS
By Ty Bartell
AUSTINTOWN OH- The All-American Conference (AAC) is a five team conference comprising larger schools in the immediate Mahoning-valley area, spanning through both Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
Typically, athletics are a gauntlet, no matter the sport, when trying to capture a conference crown. However, when it comes to the sport of volleyball, particularly on the girls side, Austintown-Fitch has been in a league of their own the last few years. Winners of The AAC the last three years consecutively, The Falcons also have an impressive 23-1 match record against the conference in that time frame. Against Boardman, in particular, it goes a little beyond that. Going into Tuesday night, Fitch was winners of nine consecutive matches against The Spartans where Austintown was 26-2 in sets. The last time Boardman tasted victory on the volleyball court versus Fitch was back on September 27th, 2018.
After the junior varsity squads got the crowd pumped up following a three set thriller that saw Spartans JV take it 2-1. With energy flowing through Austintown-Fitch High School, the stage was set between two 1-0 teams in AAC play, looking to gain conference control. With a plethora of seniors this season, The Spartans looked to turn the tide on Fitch and battled with The Falcons early on in set one. However, Austintown found a run in the middle of the set that, at one point, caused ten points of separation and culminated in a 25-18 Fitch win.
Set two was pedal to the metal time for both teams, Fitch hungry to get a 2-0 set lead and Boardman desperate to even things up. The Spartans took an early lead and exchanged it plenty of times with The Falcons. Freshman Maya Flores looked like an experienced veteran with her court awareness, hitting IQ and impressive athleticism. While Mary-Catherine Werth provided additional support attacking from the outside on offense. Despite grabbing the lead, Boardman could not prevent Fitch from going on another set-clinching run, with The Falcons being an all-around machine on the offensive side. 25-16 was the final in set two.
Searching for a straight set sweep, Austintown again found themselves down to The Spartans in the set. With Boardman capturing a 12-8 lead at one point. However, a resilient group of Falcons battled back and worked themselves back in front, managing an early deficit into a 25-17 set win and the 3-0 match win overall.
Big performers for Fitch included sophomore setter Rylie Simons with an incredible 48 assists and 10 digs. Outside hitters were racking up kills in Jordan Smith (16), Kylie Folkwein (15) and Morgan Roby (8). Folkwein, like Simons, recorded a double-double with digs, having 12 total. While Afton Roby was a presence at the net with 4 total blocks and pitching in 8 kills as a middle hitter.
Fitch has now won ten consecutive matches against Boardman, compiling an impressive 29-2 set record in that span. Austintown (7-0)(1-0) will stay in-conference in their next contest as they hit the road against the last team to beat them in The AAC, The Canfield Cardinals (3-2)(1-0) on Thursday, September 7th at Canfield. While Boardman (4-4) will look to do battle with another flock of cardinals, with The Cardinal Mooney Cardinals (2-4) coming to Boardman.
